Friday, May 12, 2017

Excerpt Blitz ~ Shacking Up by Helena Hunting @HelenaHunting @jennw23

Release Day: May
30, 2017

Ruby Scott
is months behind on rent and can’t seem to land a steady job. She has one
chance to turn things around with a big audition. But instead of getting her
big break, she gets sick as a dog and completely bombs it in the most
humiliating fashion. All thanks to a mysterious, gorgeous guy who kissed—and
then coughed on—her at a party the night before.

Luckily, her best friend might have found the
perfect opportunity; a job staying at the lavish penthouse apartment of hotel
magnate Bancroft Mills while he’s out of town, taking care of his exotic pets.
But when the newly-evicted Ruby arrives to meet her new employer, it turns out
Bane is the same guy who got her sick.

Seeing his role in Ruby’s dilemma, Bane offers
her a permanent job as his live-in pet sitter until she can get back on her
feet. Filled with hilariously awkward encounters and enough sexual tension to
heat a New York City block, Shacking Up, from NYT and USA Today bestselling
author Helena Hunting, is sure to keep you laughing and swooning all night
long.

She taps the arm of her chair and
regards me for a few seconds. “So . . . that woman you were with at the
engagement party, I’m guessing she’s not your girlfriend or anything? I don’t
need to worry about her freaking out because another woman is living in your
condo?”

“You mean Brittany? Uh, no. She’s
definitely not my girlfriend.”

“Good to know.”

“With all the travel a girlfriend
hasn’t been all that practical.”

She cocks her head. “What do you
mean?”

“When I played professional rugby I
was on the road a lot. And now it seems like I’ll be on the road more than I
anticipated. At least for a while. It makes it difficult to get involved.”

“Ah. I understand. Theater is
challenging like that, too. The hours are odd since performances are typically
in the evenings and on the weekends. Unless you’re dating another actor it’s
not very practical.” She dips her spoon in her dessert again. “So that Brittany
chick was just meant to be a hookup then?”

I’m sure Brittany would’ve been
good with the hookup part, but I don’t mention that to Ruby. “I went out with
her as a favor.”

She grimaces. “Wow, that’s some
favor.”

“She’s not that bad.” I’m not sure
why I’m defending Brittany, other than it seems to irritate Ruby.

“She called me a slut!”

“Well, you were kissing me, so . .
.” I have to bite back the smile at her incredulity.

She points her spoon at me, her
annoyance clear. “You kissed me.”

I shift an arm behind my head. “You
didn’t put up much of a fight.”

Her mouth drops open and snaps shut
just as quickly. It’s the same reaction I got out of her the other day when I
brought the same thing up at the restaurant.

Her eyes narrow into slits. I bet
she’s a real firecracker when she’s angry. I sort of want to push her buttons
just to see what happens when she goes off. I bet angry fucking with her would
be incredible. I wonder if she’s a hair puller, or a biter, or a scratcher.
Wow. That got dirty fast.

She narrows her eyes. “We are not
talking about this.”

“About you kissing me back? I
wasn’t going to bring it up, but now that we’re on the subject—”

“Consider it un-brought-up.” Her
cheeks flush.

I can’t help myself. I keep
pushing. “No way. You as much as admitted that you kissed me back, right there.
You opened the door. I’m walking through it. Why would you kiss a complete stranger?”

“I said I wasn’t talking about
this.” The pink in her cheeks rises to the tips of her ears.

This is way too much fun. She’s got
one hell of an angry glare going on. “I’m leaving you in my house for more than
a month, alone. I need to be certain you have sound judgment.”

“I’ll have you know my judgment is
usually very sound. However, when an incredibly attractive man surprises me
with his tongue in my mouth, the most logical response is to kiss back.”

“You think I’m incredibly
attractive?”

She rolls her eyes. “Of course
that’s the part you choose to focus on. You see yourself in the mirror every
day. You can’t tell me you don’t know you’re nice to look at. I’m just stating
a fact.”

My ego inflates a little at this. I
know I’m not unattractive, but my nose has been broken a couple of times, and
there’s a bump I can’t ever get rid of without plastic surgery. I’ve had knee
surgery and I’m not great under anesthetic, so I’d prefer to avoid that
scenario. I also have a few small facial scars from playing rugby all those
years, which, in the environment I grew up in, takes me down a few points on
the desirability scale. Not that I give a fuck. It’s my mother who seems to be
worried about it, as she does about every line and gray hair. It’s a blessing I
don’t have any sisters.

I see. So
you’re telling me if any incredibly attractive man did what I did, you’d
respond the exact same way.”

“Now you’re generalizing. It’s
circumstantial.”

“What do you mean by
circumstantial?”

“Well, I guess I assumed you had to
be a guest at the engagement party.”

“So that made it okay to kiss a
stranger? Because we were attending the same event?”

She pauses with her spoon at her
lips. “That’s not what I said.”

“It sounds like that’s what you’re
implying.” That spoons slips into her mouth and she licks it clean before she
responds. The entire time I’m thinking increasingly dirty thoughts about that
tongue of hers.

She flounders a little. “It’s not
like I was at some seedy bar with seedy douches. It was an engagement party.”

“So that makes me better somehow?”

“Are you always this antagonistic?”
She throws up her hands. “You kissed me. You smelled good and you’re good with
your tongue so I went with it. Stop judging me.”

“I’m not judging, I’m just asking.
So on top of being incredibly attractive and smelling good I’m also an
excellent kisser.”

“I never said excellent, you added
your own adjective. And if you keep talking about how attractive you are you’ll
go from a ten to a nine pretty fast.”

New York Times and USA Todaybestselling author of PUCKED, Helena Hunting
lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two
moderately intolerant cats. She's writes contemporary romance ranging from new
adult angst to romantic sports comedy.